Ambush
by kata-zia
Summary: Set after episode 3:12 Echoes, AU replacement of episode 3:13 Irresponsible. Some spoilers, minor references to other season 3 episodes. Major focus will be on John Sheppard and Kolya, includes the rest of the team & some minor characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** They aren't mine but I love them anyway.  
**Reason for writing:** 1) I -hate- Irresponsible. 2) A plot bunny bit. 3) I love them all.  
**Reviews:** Encouragement is treasured. Constructive comment adored.  
**Updates:** I do have the whole story roughly outlined but it's still very much in-progress. I'll finish it soon, though, because otherwise I'll never be happy!

* * *

... beep ...

"What was that? What did you touch now?" McKay did not wait for a response as he evicted the technician from his spot in front of the laptop. Tapping at the keys he frowned, then turned and looked at the screen at the side of the control room. Obediently, the screen flashed up a star chart, highlighting one and then scrolling the Lantean designation beside it. Noting that it did not look familiar, McKay tapped out another command on the laptop and muttered about the latest linguistics teamwork as the translation spelled out the database entry slower than he could read it.

---------

"We've designated it M1K-993. The Ancients had a minor outpost there, shut down and abandoned early on in the war with the Wraith." McKay continued summarizing his information to Dr. Weir. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to say.

Weird mentally shuffled the reports she had been reviewing to one side before responding thoughtfully. "If they abandoned it early on, do you really think they'd have left something useful there?"

"Well, no, which is why it hasn't been put on the mission list yet. But that's not the point; the point is that right now, there is something there. And it's signaling Atlantis. Which means it isn't just something, it's something Ancient."

Carefully keeping her expression casual, Weir couldn't stop a smile at the gleeful tone McKay's chatter. It was not unlike the reaction of a small child discovering a new and interesting toy and the enthusiasm was good to see. "Add it to the MALP reconnaissance schedule then and yes, if it checks out ok, you can add it to the mission list." She was sure he hadn't expected anything else.

"Good, good and about the –"

"No." She knew what he was asking.

"But –"

"No. Now go away or I'll rescind permission for M1K-993 until the next fortnightly missions-meeting." Yes, there was the sulky expression again. Weir watched McKay depart and with a sigh, returned to the reports.

--------

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Sheppard picked his way through the debris that was scattered all over. Pegasus galaxy concrete he thought. But a city in ruins was a city in ruins, whichever planet it was on.

"I'm not sure exactly, it's emitting a subspace signal and it's... that way." Pointing to the right, McKay ignored the city, obviously built by some Pegasus Galaxy natives who managed to get fairly high on the technology scale before falling to the Wraith. Gaze glued to the data-pad, he started down a wide avenue that was clearer than the area around the gate and DHD.

Ronon and Teyla exchanged amused glances with Sheppard and they all followed, albeit with more care for their surroundings. The place seemed devoid of human or animal life and even the weed-like planets looked scraggly.

Behind them, in the opposite direction, two men in the Genii watched through simple binoculars until the Atlantis team turned a corner and was out of sight of the Stargate before one of them departed to report their observations to their leader.


	2. Chapter 2

"Remind you of anywhere?"

Ronon did not usually initiate random conversation so Sheppard took the question seriously. Focusing on the unusually ornate architecture, he considered for a long moment before answering. "Not really."

"Look at how the debris is arranged. Not the small stuff - the big pieces." Ronon's comment was soft and his stance more than usually wary. "The line of sight to those taller buildings."

Sheppard continued looking and for a long moment, saw nothing. Then, like a magic picture, it shifted. The largish blocks forming defensible positions with overlapping fire zones, each one with clear retreat behind cover; the near-flat rooftops with parapets, useful to snipers or observers. Old, appearing derelict but the shells were solid. "Training ground."

"Kill zone."

Sheppard pulled out the life signs detector. Four little dots - himself and Ronon here, Teyla and McKay just inside the building to his right. "Maybe you're right but it's just us right now." They started towards their team mates, Sheppard sliding the useful ancient device back into a vest pocket. "Found it yet, McKay?"

"Doctor McKay has found something. He is not sure exactly what." Teyla appeared in the doorway, her expression quietly amused.

"It's a relay device. Not unlike that necklace thing Teyla had, back when she first came to Atlantis, but rather than just transmitting a signal, it actually appears to be receiving instructions from somewhere else on this planet, through something low tech like radio."

Sheppard looked over Teyla's shoulder. McKay was standing 4 meters away, beside the far wall, investigating a dusty collection of small objects, most of which appeared to be junk. "The Ancients used radio? We haven't come across that one before."

"Like radio. Not radio but it doesn't use subspace and seems to have something to do with EM radiation so like radio." McKay carefully didn't touch it but his fingers were moving over his tablet at high speed.

"So something else is telling it to broadcast. Any hint as to what? Or where? Or even why it started chattering?"

"Doctor McKay, the amulet I had broadcast a signal to the Wraith. Is this device also doing so."

"No no no and no. It's transmitting directly and quite specifically to Atlantis. Unfortunately," McKay paused as they heard a crash from outside, some distance away. "I don't know what it's saying, what was that?"

"Stay here. Teyla, stay with him."

Ronon was already moving, uninterested in McKay's chatter. "You think we're still alone?" he snapped as Sheppard came up beside him, their pace smooth, wary but confident.

Looking at the life signs detector momentarily, Sheppard riposted effortlessly. "No one else within a hundred meters, this thing doesn't have a bigger range than that, you know that."

Twenty seconds later, they turned back down the avenue to the gate and stopped in their tracks. A wall had apparently collapsed, not all the dust was settled yet. No one was in sight but both men felt the prickling sensation of being watched.

"You still think we're alone?" Ronon paraphrased his question again, instinctively moving closer to a wall, to somewhere less exposed.

"No. Let's get back to McKay and Teyla." The city that had seemed indifferent before presented far too many places for someone to hide now and Sheppard wished he hadn't split their team up. Silence lay heavily on the ground, almost enough to smother. No insects buzzing, nothing. Ronon moved a few meters away, obviously at home in this kind of environment as even Sheppard was not. Most of his fighting hadn't been done in places like this. Deserts. Jungles. Wilderness. Primitive little villages even. But cities were never this empty on Earth and there were precious few in Pegasus, empty or populated.

Ronon would not have called himself comfortable here but in an odd way, it reminded him of Sateda. These people who built the place had obviously been fighters and the technology level (albeit long abandoned) was closer to his homeworld than most places they visited. The emptiness disturbed him. There! The smallest of visible movements, the stance unmistakable. He dove for Sheppard knocking both of them down and towards a gap between buildings – towards cover.

An instant after Ronon moved, gunfire exploded around them. This, Sheppard knew. Dodging bullets was depressingly familiar and sharp stings in his shoulder and across his buttocks was a reminder. The alleyway provided cover but not much of it and without hesitation he flung himself close to the edge and returned fire.

Silence returned for a long eleven seconds of stillness. Sheppard waited, behind him, Ronon cautiously slid the only unblocked door open.


End file.
